Chuck: Chuck Versus The Third Dimension

(S02E12) "The cell is mightier than the sword, or the very large knife." -- Chuck
There were some funny bits in this episode of Chuck. There were also some good bits of plot development. Still, for what was being promoted as a spotlight show, including the novelty of 3-D, it's hard for me to sing the praises of tonight's episode. It just left a lot to be desired. What it did leave me with is a headache.
Before getting into the particulars, let's get the 3-D thing out of the way. It was terrible. Joel wrote about this a few days ago, and he was right. The 3-D glasses were cumbersome and lame. They also seemed too dark because instead of the effects popping, they just seemed murky and dim. I give NBC credit for trying to think outside the box, but 3-D is not the answer for how to make TV viewing more exciting. Compared to high-def, 3-D is not awesome, just annoying.
The writers were not inspired by the idea of expanding the storytelling into the third dimension. Like most 3-D films, characters lunged or threw things at the camera. The depth of field in the shots were negligible. So in the dream/nightmare scene at the beginning, it was hard to get caught up in Sarah's climbing over Chuck in bed. The depth of field just had me questioning why Chuck only sleeps on half the bed.
What was more important about that scene was that it illustrated Chuck's confusion about Sarah's lethal abilities after having seen her shoot another agent in cold blood in the last episode. Fortunately, before the end of the show, they talked it out and Chuck realized that Sarah's job includes making difficult choices. Choices, ironically, is what Chuck doesn't have. That's what Sarah comes to realize by show's end, that he is not the Intersect by choice and, therefore, when he whines about having/needing a day off, he's not in the wrong. Of course, when finally given a time-out, Chuck chooses to tag-along.
Lost actor Dominic Monaghan was the guest star, rocker Tyler Martin who is making an appearance at the Buy More. Naturally, Chuck's eyeballs roll into the back of his head and an assassin appears to get Tyler leading to the plot -- such as it was -- to protect the rocker. Monaghan was very Charlie-like, and my favorite moment was when he said, "I've never really been in a situation like this before, life or death. I've pretty much lived my life avoiding anything that's real." If that wasn't a shout-out to his Lost character, I don't know what would be.
The Buy More storyline, including a guest turn by Jerome Bettis, former NFL star and current NBC sports commentator, was silly. For Morgan's triathalon, the contestants had to take part in competitive eating and touch a urinal cake. The latter was beyond Jeff's ken.
On the other end of the spectrum, Casey and Sarah searching for the bad guy at the club, when he had dozens of lookalikes wearing the same outfit was smart and funny, like the scene from The Thomas Crown Affair in the museum.
- CHUCK Adam Baldwin as Major John Casey stars in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008. NBC CHUCK Adam Baldwin as Major John Casey stars in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008. NBC CHUCK Michael Clarke Duncan as Colt and Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker star in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008. NBC CHUCK Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski and Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker star in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008. NBC CHUCK Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski and Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker star in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008. NBC CHUCK Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski, Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker and Michael Clarke Duncan as Colt star in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008. NBC CHUCK Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski stars in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008. NBC CHUCK Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski stars in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008. NBC CHUCK Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski and Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker star in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008. NBC CHUCK Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker stars in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008. NBC

21 Comments